Preview Liege-Bastogne-Liège 2024 | From Poels and Pogacar to Bernal and Van der Poel: they are coming from all over!

The 2024 cycling spring season is almost over, with the Ardennes classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège as the traditional finale coming up. In La Doyenne, global cycling stars Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar will go head-to-head, an event eagerly anticipated by cycling enthusiasts and experts alike and IDLProCycling is going to tell you all you need to know.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège is of course a name that rings a bell, but above all, it is a race where the world's best cyclists come to the forefront. The challenging hills of the Walloon Ardennes leave little room for riders to hide—Simon Gerrans being one of the few exceptions. Local hero Remco Evenepoel, who claimed victory in the last two editions, will unfortunately miss this race due to injuries sustained in the Tour of the Basque Country.

The same goes for Primoz Roglic, the winner in 2020. However, Pogacar, who won this race in 2021 and then broke his wrist in this race last year, will be present. This year, he does not have to fear the pothole-ridden spot of doom: it has been - wisely - removed by the race organizer A.S.O., to offer the stars a bit more assurance towards all the goals they have in the coming months.

Practical information Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024

• Sunday, April 21, 2024
• Participants
• Classification: WorldTour

In this article

• Recent winners
• Course, weather and times
• Favorites
• TV broadcasting information

Recent winners Liège-Bastogne-Liège

2023 Remco Evenepoel
2022 Remco Evenepoel
2021 Tadej Pogacar
2020 Primoz Roglic
2019 Jakob Fuglsang
2018 Bob Jungels
2017 Alejandro Valverde
2016 Wout Poels
2015 Alejandro Valverde
2014 Simon Gerrans

Course, weather and times Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024

The course of La Doyenne has seen minimal changes this year. Starting from Place Saint Lambert—also the venue for Saturday's team presentation—the race moves toward the province of Luxembourg. Early in the race, riders will encounter the Côte de Bonnereu (2.4 km at 5.7%), which could prompt some initial breakaways.

It was in this region that Pogacar broke his wrist last season, prompting the organization to take measures: Bonnereu replaces Roche-en-Ardennes, a picturesque town in the area. This, including its associated climb, is not included in the route.

Afterward, the route quickly returns to the familiar path of recent editions, with the steep Côte de Saint-Roch (1.0 km at 11.2%) positioned in a sort of no-man's land. From about 95 kilometers from the finish, the race really begins, with nine steep climbs following in quick succession to shape the finale of this Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

After crossing Vielsalm, the Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.7 km at 7.9%) leads into a section with the Côte de Wanne (3.6 km at 5.1%), Col de Stockeu (1.0 km at 12.5%), and Côte de la Haute-Levée (2.2 km at 7.5%) in succession, with the Stockeu, in particular, likely to cause some trouble due to its steep gradients.

Through the longest of them all, the Col du Rosier (4.4 km at 5.9%), we then head past Spa to the Côte de Desnié (1.6 km at 8.1%). This climb is also significant, especially as it leads to a dangerous descent towards the well-known Côte de la Redoute (1.6 km at 9.4%). If the finale hasn’t started yet, it certainly will at this point.

What remains? First, the Col des Forges (1.3 km at 7.8%), but more importantly: the Côte de la Roche-aux Faucons (1.3 km at 11.0%), naturally, about thirteen kilometers from the finish. Heading towards Liège, there are still some altitude meters to be conquered, but the last eight kilometers are mostly downhill.

Climbs
69.7 km: Côte de Bonnereu (2.4 km at 5.7%)
132.3 km: Côte de Saint-Roch (1.0 km at 11.2%)
161.2 km: Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.7 km at 7.9%)
169.5 km: Côte de Wanne (3.6 km at 5.1%)
176.0 km: Col de Stockeu (1.0 km at 12.5%)
180.2 km: Côte de la Haute-Levée (2.2 km at 7.5%)
194.4 km: Col du Rosier (4.4 km at 5.9%)
207.8 km: Côte de Desnié (1.6 km at 8.1%)
220.5 km: Côte de la Redoute (1.6 km at 9.4%)
231.2 km: Col des Forges (1.3 km at 7.8%)
246.3 km: Côte de la Roche-aux Faucons (1.3 km at 11.0%)

Weather

The weather won’t be as bad as it was on Wednesday in the Flèche Wallonne, but on Sunday, the riders will still need to be cautious in and around Liège. With temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius, it will be quite chilly, with the possibility of rain. Careful attention must be paid to clothing!

Times

Favorites Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024

Note: The participants list has not been officially confirmed, so this section is still subject to change.

By no means is everything clear ahead of this year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but one thing is certain: Tadej Pogacar is - in every scenario - the top favorite. The Slovenian from UAE-Team Emirates has only raced nine days leading up to his Giro-Tour double, but has excelled in every race so far. He won Strade Bianche and the Tour of Catalonia, and finished second in Milan-San Remo, and he will want to erase the memory of his wrist fracture from last year's edition of Liège.

Hot on his heels is Mathieu van der Poel, as the world champion from Alpecin-Deceuninck. Despite a lighter race schedule this spring, van der Poel is focused on making a significant impact this Sunday. Having previously finished sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he’s quietly eyeing a top spot this time around. Whether he can surpass Pogacar, however, remains to be seen.

Last Wednesday, of course, we saw an apocalyptic edition of the Flèche Wallonne, and that will inevitably affect the riders' legs and bodies. Liège favorites like Tom Pidcock, winner of the Amstel Gold Race for INEOS Grenadiers, Jayco-AlUla's Michael Matthews, Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech), and Lidl-Trek leader Mattias Skjelmose dropped out of the race with hypothermia symptoms, and it remains to be seen how much this will affect them on Sunday.

On the other hand, riders who performed well last time at Mur de Huy include podium contenders such as Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), and Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), as well as Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R), Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), and Tobias Halland Johannessen from the strong Uno-X team, all of whom recorded notable placements. Good for confidence, but is riding so long in the cold also good for this coming Sunday?

While Uno-X showed its strength as a team on Wednesday, we expect strong teams like Groupama-FDJ, Bahrain Victorious, and EF Education-EasyPost to perform well on Sunday alongside the teams of the big favorites. The French team, with Romain Gregoire, Valentin Madouas, and David Gaudu, has three men who could go far, while Bahrain Victorious can count on 2023 podium attendee Santiago Buitrago, 2016 winner Wout Poels, and Pello Bilbao. The American EF team again features Olympic champion Richard Carapaz and the Irishman Ben Healy, who finished fourth last season.

And then there are a few riders, including Poels, whom we haven't seen yet. Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe) left the Flèche Wallonne quite early, but there are also strong riders coming from races like the Tour of Abruzzo (Alexey Lutsenko for Astana Qazaqstan Team), Tour du Jura (Felix Gall of Decathlon AG2R), and the Tour of Catalonia (alongside Pogacar, also INEOS rider Egan Bernal).

According to IDLProCycling.com, who are the favorites for Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024?

Top favorite: Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates)

Data powered by FirstCycling.com

TV broadcasting Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024

The broadcast will then start as early as 12:30 PM on Eurosport's main channel and online platforms. Sporza joins an hour later at 1:30 PM and will run the broadcast until after the finish of the women's race around 7:00 PM, while NOS also allocates enough time in the afternoon programming for the race.